Good ol' boy, regular American guy Fred just can't seem to figure out who he wants to run his non-campaign campaign. Maybe the third time's a charm .
Fred Thompson on Wednesday tapped the man he credits with saving his 1994 Senate campaign to take over his likely presidential bid.
Bill Lacy, a former strategist for Ronald Reagan, Bob Dole and Republican National Committee, will run day-to-day operations of Thompson's committee to "test the waters" for a presidential run.
"He turned around my campaign for Senate in 1994
Someone better turn this ship around. Lately it's been more like one of those subs in the Hunt for Red October, sinking fast.
The all-but-declared candidate collected about $1.5 million less than the $5 million backers had hoped to bring in during June, his first fundraising month. In July, Thompson sidelined his campaign-manager-in-waiting, Tom Collamore, and watched a few other aides follow him out the door amid consternation inside the operation about the active role of Thompson's wife, Jeri.
Perhaps Mr. Lacy will fare a bit better than he did in his last stint as a presidential campaign manager.
A White House political director in the Reagan administration, Lacy was Dole's political strategist for 10 years, including during the Kansas senator's failed 1996 presidential run. Lacy resigned shortly after Dole lost the New Hampshire and Delaware primaries.
I'll say this for Mr. Lacy, he sure nailed the reason for ol' Fred's turnaround in his Senate race.
"Fred isn't Superman. His style has some similarities to President Reagan, but he hasn't been around as long and proven himself as much," Lacy wrote. "But he has been tested: In the darkest hours of his political career, when the wheels were about to come off his first campaign, he figured out how to scoop them up, put them on a red truck and drive off into the sunset."
You could write a book from that statement. Certainly, his style is similar to Reagan's, give him that much. But even though his Senate career wasn't exactly stellar, you have to give him credit where credit is due. He did manage to get McCain/Feingold passed, even got a loving note from Russ for his efforts.
But I like that last one best, about scooping up the wheels, renting a little red truck and driving into the sunset. What little red truck ?
Although some of his campaign staff protested the move as cheesy, they leased Thompson a red Chevy pickup and he hit the road. Cooper attempted to paint Thompson as phony, calling him a "Gucci-wearing, Lincoln-driving, Perrier-drinking, Grey Poupon–spreading millionaire Washington special-interest lobbyist." But voters loved the truck. They didn't seem to mind that the candidate often switched from a sedan to the truck just miles from his appearances. "We couldn't believe anyone was buying it ," says Kopp.
There are a lot of good, hard working conservatives running for the Republican nomination in 2008. Hunter, Romney, Tommy Thompson, Giuliani and others. Why settle for style over substance?
No comments:
Post a Comment